Is Bannon in peril? Trump comments worry his populist base

Once viewed by critics as the man actually running the country, Steve Bannon's place in President Donald Trump's administration has seemed a lot less certain lately.

Bannon's allies argue that there were sound reasons for Trump's policy swings, but he has had an especially bad recent stretch, beginning with his removal from the principals committee of the National Security Council on April 4 - the first official sign of Trump's discontent. I think it is healthy for the president to be advised and to take final decisions, "concluded the representative of the White House, himself in difficulty after very controversial statements held the day before comparing the president Syrian Bashar al-Assad to Adolf Hitler".

President Donald Trump must keep Steve Bannon as his chief strategist.

Many attribute Bannon's waning influence not only to his arguments with Kushner, but with his governing vision, which proved effective during the campaign, but has not resulted in many legislative successes.

As NPR's Domenico Montanaro noted when President Trump "pivoted" during his joint address to Congress, only to accuse President Obama of wiretapping him days later, Trump himself has explained that while he could "be the most presidential candidate in history, other than honest Abe Lincoln", he feels compelled to respond whenever he feels threatened or ignored. Precisely because he is a nationalist and a Sessions alum, he's someone the White House can point to as proof that they haven't abandoned the philosophy that Trumpran on just because Bannon isn't there anymore. Ingraham, citing reports, said Ivanka Trump and Kushner are trying to soften the President's rhetoric on immigration, unlike Bannon and former Sessions aide Stephen Miller.

All of which begs the question: What becomes of Trump and his administration if the Bannon gets the boot?

But his nationalist agenda has suffered several setbacks in the White House; a travel ban on immigrants was stalled in court, and Trump's intervention in Syria goes against Bannon's isolationist philosophy. After the inauguration, Flynn's lawyers told the White House counsel's office that the national security adviser would indeed have to move forward with that filing. While we know nearly nothing about how our new "shadow president" sees the world, we are beginning to get an idea of Kushner's vision for the Trump administration.

Bannon is not just at odds with Jared Kushner.

Flynn was sacked in February after the White House said he misled Vice-President Mike Pence and other top officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States. After spending his entire campaign trail ranting about China, Trump reversed his stand and said China is not manipulating its currency to gain a trade advantage. And then Trump put a dis for Bannon in the papers.

Two administration officials sought to downplay the tensions between Kushner and Bannon, and said they didn't expect any near-term changes in Bannon's role, which they described as that of an adviser focused on helping Trump carry through on his campaign promises.

Trump's grass roots base didn't vote for Bannon for president, they voted for Trump. "We might be at an all time low with Russia", Trump said Wednesday, accusing Putin of siding with an "evil person".